Method of making machine sewn jacket and jacket construction

ABSTRACT

A man&#39;&#39;s jacket having a sweater-type feel sewn entirely by machine and made of stretchable materials. It includes a shoulder cap assembly blind stitch machine tacked thereto at several points only. It has the appearance of a tailored jacket, but does not require hand sewing operations conventionally used in making tailored jackets.

United States Patent Ellman [54] METHOD OF MAKING MACHINE SEWN JACKETAND JACKET CONSTRUCTION [72] Inventor: Harold R. Ellman, 87! FairviewRoad, Highland Park, Ill. 60035 I22] Filed: July 7, 1970 l2l| Appl.No.:52,799

[451 Feb. 8, 1972 l;697,959 1/1929 Maronna ..2/93 2,274,261 2/1942 Vogel2/2es Primary Examiner-Richard .l. Scanlan, Jr. Alt0meyDressler,Goldsmith, Clement & Gordon 57] ABSTRACT A mans jacket having asweater-type feel sewn entirely by machine and made of stretchablematerials. It includes a I shoulder cap assembly blind stitch machinetacked thereto at several points only. it has the appearance of atailored jacket. but does not require hand sewing operationsconventionally used in making tailored jackets.

10 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PAYENTED FEB em:

sum 1 BF 2 IN VEN TOR Harold 2. 511mm PATENTEB FEB 8 H7! SHEET 2 0F 2 DAm m V N Harold Efl/mafi 7 MMw 7 1 19 METHOD OF MAKING MACHINE SEWNJACKET AND JACKET CONSTRUCTION This invention relates to a completelymachine sewn jacket having a tailored look, but having the feel whenworn of a sweater, and to a method of making the jacket. The jacket ismade substantially entirely of stretchable materials which imparts to itthe feel of a sweater. The use of such materials when assembled inaccordance with this invention makes it possible to size jackets infewer sizes to accommodate a full range of mens jacket sizes.

In accordance with this invention, the jacket is preferably made of alightweight double knit material, and is lined, where necessary, with awoven stretch lining. Preferably the interliners used are of a feltedmaterial which is fusible to the jacket parts which the interlinerpieces are to reinforce.

For economy and efficiency of manufacture, the jacket of this inventionis made entirely by machine sewing and therefore eliminates all handsewing operations. However, the jacket has the same appearance as atailored, partially handsewn jacket.

In accordance with this invention, a first subassembly in eluding a pairof backs, a pair of fronts, and an undercollar are machine sewntogether, the fronts and the undercollar being provided with a fusedinterliner. This subassembly is further machine sewn to define theshoulder seams and armholes, and the undercollar edges are machinejoined to the fronts.

A further subassembly including facings, lining sections, a top collarand a neckpiece is machine sewn. The two assemblies are then joinedtogether by a lockstitch, are turned inside out, and are edged seamed.The lining is machine sewn to the armhole, to the shoulder seam and tothe side seams. The lower edge of the lining is fused to the lower edgeof the jacket.

To eliminate the conventional hand sewing of the lining to the frontadjacent the facing, a plurality of machine blind stitch tacks are madeat spaced locations along the line of joinder of the lining and facing.To keep the top collar and undercollar from spreading, and to avoidfurther hand operations, a plurality of machine blind stitch tacks aremade at spaced locations through the backs and fronts of the jacket justbelow the collars, thereby to join the facings to the fronts at theupper edges of the fronts, and the backs to the neckpiece at the upperedges of the backs. The sleeves are then positioned in the armholes andare machine sewn to the jacket.

Thereafter, a floating shoulder piece assembly is attached to the jacketadjacent each armhole. The shoulder piece assembly is generallytriangular in shape and is machine blind stitch tacked at each apex, onesuch tack being at the shoulder seam, and the other two tacks lyingsubstantially along the armhole seam joining the jacket and the sleeves.

This free-floating shoulder piece assembly which desirably also includesa sleeve cap portion machine sewn thereto, and which further isdesirably lined with a fusible interliner or stay material, uniquelydevelops the shoulder line to improve the finished jacket appearance,and the jacket therefore develops a tailored look with a sweater feel.That is largely because the shoulder piece is free of confinement by thelining and free except for the points at which it is machine tacked tothe jacket.

Further objects, advantages and features of this invention will becomeapparent from the following description and drawings of which:

FIG. I is a front view of a jacket of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial assembly of the fronts, backs and undercollar ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a further development of the assembly of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates a lining, facing, top collar and neckpiecesubassembly of the jacket of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a further development of the jacket of FIG. I viewed from theinside of the jacket;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged rear view of a portion f FIG. I with the collarturned up;

FIG. 7 illustrates a floating shoulder piece assembly; and

FIG. 8 illustrates the floating shoulder piece assembly of FIG. 7 as itis positioned in the jacket of FIG. I.

A mans jacket 10 of this invention comprises a number of cutandassembled pieces. These pieces are variously cut as from adouble-knit stretchable fabric, from a woven stretch lining material andfrom a stretchable fusible felted interliner material. The jacket ismade exclusively of such fabric pieces, except for several pieces ofstretch-resistant cloth tape pieces which are located in places to bedescribed, and except for decorative pieces such as buttons and thelike.

Referring first to FIG. 2, jacket 10 includes a right front section 12,a left front section 14, a right back section 16 and a left back section18, each of which is cut from double-knit stretchable fabric material.

Front sections 12 and 14 are appropriately cut and machine sewn toprovide darts 20. Each front section is then pressed and lined with aheat-fused interliner section 22. lnterliner section 22 (only one ofwhich is shown in FIG. 2) is a stretchable fusible felted material whichis fused to the fronts l2 and 14 by pressing same with a hot pressmember, such as a garment press or an iron.

Pockets P (FIG. 1) are suitably machine sewn. They comprise a fabricpatch (of the same material as the fronts) and a woven stretch liningmaterial. After the pockets are assembled, they are machine topstitchedas at 24 around their sides and bottom to the fronts of front sections12 and 14.

Back sections 16 and 18 are separately serged along the edges which areto form the center back seam 23 and the vents. The left vent is dressedduring serging to reduce its width by about five-eighths inch.Thereafter, the back sections 16 and 18 are machine lockstitched to eachother adjacent the serging above the vents. The left vent is creased,and the back sections are topstitched (the back seam 23 is raised) downto the vents and then downwardly to the bottom of the left vent. Theright vent is creased and the to of the vents are closed by a diagonalvent stitch 26. The serged edge of the right back section 24 is shown at28.

Next, a nonstretchable cloth tape segment 30 is machine secured at thetops of the back sections as by a machine lockstitch, and preferably atthe same time an undercollar 32 (of the same fabric as the fronts andbacks) is secured by a machine lockstitch to the tops of the backsections at the tape 30. Undercollar 32 is desirably provided with aninterliner portion 33 of the same material as the interliners 22.

Thereafter, the backs and fronts are machine serged to each other alongserged side seams 34 and 36 (FIG. 2). At this point the shoulder edges Sare machine lockstitched to form shoulder seams 38 through shouldertapes 40, and the edges E of undercollar 32 are secured by a machinelockstitch to front section edges F to form seams 42. Finally, thebottom edge G of the assembled fronts and backs is serged and is foldedand creased until the serged edge G lies in the dotted line position ofFIG. 2. The serged edge G is then machine blind stitched to the mainbodies of the fronts and backs generally between the positions marked Xon dotted line G (FIG. 2). This then forms the front and back shellassembly 46.

A lining and facing assembly 44 (FIG. 4) is prepared. FIG. 4 illustratessubstantially half of a symmetrical assembly. Facings 50 are cut, as area top collar 52 and a neckpiece 54. These are cut from the same materialas the fronts and backs. The facings 50 (only one of which is shown inFIG. 4) are serged to the top collar and neckpiece at seams H and J,respectively, and the neckpiece to the top collar along a continuationof seam H. The lining sections 51 (only one of which is shown),previously provided with suitable pockets F cut from the same wovenstretch material as the lining itself, are then chain stitched to thefacing along seam K.

The lining and facing assembly 44 is then placed back to back with thefront and back assembly 46. The corresponding edges and a nonstretchablecloth tape (not shown) are juxtaposed and the edges are lockstitchedtogether, the tape minimizing the stretchability at that point. The taperises only to slightly above the buttons (FIG. I) at each front edge.The

lockstitching runs from substantially adjacent the seam K at the bottomof the jacket upwardly along the front section and the confrontingfacing, across the juxtaposed top and bottom collars, and downwardlyalong the other front section and confronting facing to the bottom ofthe jacket. The entire assemblage is then turned inside out, and thelockstitched edge is edgestitched adjacent thereto to form thecontinuous edge stitch 60 (see FIG. 1).

Thereafter, the facing and fronts are blind stitch machine tackedthrough the facing (but not through the fronts) at a plurality of spacedtack points T (FIG. 5). This eliminates con ventional hand stitching ofthe lining to the fronts. Lining 5 I is then machine lockstitched insideout to the side seams 34, 36 so that side seams 34 and 36 do not show(FIG. 5). Then the lining 51 is serged to the armholes (at M) and to theshoulders along shoulder tapes 40 (at N). A fusible tape is positionedat the base of the lining (under edge L) to fuse the lining to thebottom of the front sections. That eliminates the conventional handstitching normally used at this point and finishes securing the lining51 to thejacket.

As shown in FIG. 6, the fronts, backs, facings and neckpiece are machineblind tacked from the outside of the jacket at tacks W to assist inkeeping the top and bottom collars from spreading apart. This is in lieuof the conventional stitching of the collars together generally alongthe line Y and further simplifies the assembly of the jacket. Desirablythe neckpiece is also blind stitched centrally to the backs adjacent thecenter seam.

Sleeves 70 are formed of sleeve pieces cut from the same material as thefronts and backs. They are serged along their adjoining edges, the cuffsare serged, are folded and are then blind stitched inside out to formthe cuffs. After they have been turned right side out, the sleeves arealigned with the armholes A and are serged to the peripheries of thearmholes along seams M and beyond to completely attach the sleeves tothe jacket at the armholes.

FIG. 7 illustrates a shoulder piece assembly 80 which comprises ashoulder piece 82 which may be generally described as being triangularand sleeve cap 84, each cut from the same goods as the fronts and backs,and a fusible interliner section 86 secured to the shoulder piece. Theshoulder piece and sleeve cap are serged together along seam B and areserged around their edges. The side of the shoulder piece to which theinterliner is fused may also be covered with a piece of linmg.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, shoulder piece assembly 80 is machine blindstitch tacked to the jacket at several points, these points beinggenerally illustrated at points D in FIG. 5. One of the points D isgenerally along shoulder seam N, whereas the other two points D liealong the serged seam between the sleeve and the armhole A (along seam Mand the continuation thereof). This free-floating shoulder pieceassembly tacked only at points D enhances the sweaterlike feel ofthejacket I0 ofthis invention. Further, by positioning scam B inside thesleeve rather than facing outwardly, a neater appearance is given tothejacket.

After the foregoing has been accomplished, the jacket is pressed, thebuttons G are set, the buttonholes are formed and thejacket is ready forsale and use.

What is claimed is:

l. A completely machine sewn jacket of stretchable fabrics imparting asweaterlike feel to the jacket comprising, a pair of stretchable knitfabric fronts machine sewn along their sides to a centrally machinejoined pair of backs of the same goods to provide side seams, the frontseach being provided with a fused stretchable interliner, said fronts andbacks being machine sewn to each other at the shoulders with anonstretchable cloth tape to form shoulder seams and to form armholes,an undercollar machine sewn with a nonstretchable tape to said backs,said undercollar being provided with a fused stretchable interliner,said undercollar being machine sewn to said fronts at top edges thereof,and stretchable linings, facings, a neckpiece and a topcollar machinesewn together as a preassembly machine sewn to said fronts, to said sideseams, to said undercollar and to the peripheries of said armholes, thelower edge of said lining being fused to the adjacent lower edge of saidfront, and sleeves machine sewn to said armholes to form armhole scams.

2. The jacket of claim 1 further including spaced machine blind stitchtacks joining each said facing and the adjacent front adjacent the lineofjoinder ofeach said facing and lining.

3. The jacket of claim I further comprising a floating shoulder pieceassembly, said shoulder piece assembly comprising a generally triangularshoulder piece and a sleeve cap machine sewn thereto to form a seam,said shoulder piece and sleeve cap being of the same fabric as the frontand back and machine blind stitch tacks joining each said shoulder pieceat its apices to a said shoulder seam and to two spaced points at a saidarmhole seam, the scam joining said shoulder piece and sleeve cap beingdisposed toward said sleeve.

4. The jacket of claim I further comprising a plurality of machine blindstitch tacks for keeping said collars from spreading, said tacks beingspacedly located beneath and adjacent said undercollar and pusingthrough said backs and fronts and into said facings and neckpiece,respectively.

5. A completely machine sewn jacket of stretchable knit goods impartinga sweater feel to the jacket, said jacket comprising stretchable fronts,backs, collars, facings, linings and sleeves all machine sewn to eachother, and a floating shoulder piece assembly free of confinement bysaid lining and other jacket parts and being secured to said jacket onlyat several spaced points, said shoulder piece assembly comprising agenerally triangular shoulder piece and a sleeve cap machine sewnthereto along one side thereof to form a scam, the side of the shoulderpiece to which the sleeve cap is sewn being blind stitch machine tackedat opposite ends to an armhole seam and the other point of saidtriangular shoulder piece being machine blind stitch tacked to ashoulder scam.

6. A method of assembling a man's jacket of stretchable fabric absenthand sewing to impart a sweater-type feel thereto, the steps comprising,cutting fronts, backs, facings, an undercollar, a top collar and aneckpiece from a stretchable interliner material, and cutting liningsfrom a stretchable liner material, machine sewing the backs to form acenter seam and machine sewing the fronts, each of which has aninterliner fused thereto, to the free sides of the backs to form sideseams, machine sewing said undercollar to said backs through anonstretchable tape, machinc sewing said backs and said fronts throughnonstretchable tapes to form shoulder seams and to define armholes, andmachine sewing said undercollar to said fronts, all to form a shellassembly, machine sewing linings, facings, a neckpiece and a top collarto form a preassembly, machine sewing said preassembly to said shellassembly, and said linings to said shoulder seams and side seams, fusingthe lower edge of said lining to the lower edges of said fronts, andmachine sewing sleeves to said armholes to form armhole seams.

7. The method of claim 6 further including the step of machine blindstitch tacking each said facing and the adjacent front adjacent the lineofjoinder of said facing and lining to each other at a plurality ofspaced points therealong.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising the steps of machine sewinga shoulder piece assembly comprising a generally triangular shoulderpiece and a sleeve cap, and blind stitch machine tacking each saidshoulder piece at its apices to said shoulder seam and to two spacedpoints at said armhole seam.

9. The method of claim 6 comprising the further step of machine blindstitch tacking said collars at a plurality of points spacedly locatedbeneath and adjacent said undercollar and passing through said backs andfronts and into said facings and neckpiece to keep said collars fromspreading.

10. The method of making a completely machine sewn jacket of stretchableknit goods to impart a sweater-type feel to the jacket, said jacketincluding machine joined stretchable knit fronts, backs, collars,facings, linings and sleeves,

machine sewing a generally triangular shoulder piece and a sleeve cap,said sleeve cap lying along one side of said shoulder piece, to form aseam, machine blind stitch tacking said shoulder piece to said jacket,the ends of said seam being tacked to an armhole seam and the otherpoint of said triangu- 5 lar shoulder piece being tacked to a shoulderseam, said shoulder piece assembly otherwise being unsecured to saidjacket and being free from confinement by said lining.

UNITED STATIES PATEN'I OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CURRECTIQN Patent No. 3,398 Dated February 8, 1972 Inventor(s) Harold R Ellman It is certifiedthat error appears in the above-identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column-l, line 73, "f" should be of;

Column 2, line 36, "the to of the vents" should read the top of thevents Column 4, line 5 of Claim 6, before "interliner" v insert knitfabric, cutting interliners from a fusible, stretchable Signed andsealed this hth day of Ju1 fl972.

(SEAL) Attestz' EDWARD M.,FLETGHER,JH. R BE T TT CHALK Commissioner ofPatents attesting Officer

1. A completely machine sewn jacket of stretchable fabrics imparting asweaterlike feel to the jacket comprising, a pair of stretchable knitfabric fronts machine sewn along their sides to a centrally machinejoined pair of backs of the same goods to provide side seams, the frontseach being provided with a fused stretchable interliner, said fronts andbacks being machine sewn to each other at the shoulders with anonstretchable cloth tape to form shoulder seams and to form armholes,an undercollar machine sewn with a nonstretchable tape to said backs,said undercollar being provided with a fused stretchable interliner,said undercollar being machine sewn to said fronts at top edges thereof,and stretchable linings, facings, a neckpiece and a topcollar machinesewn together as a preassembly machine sewn to said fronts, to said sideseams, to said undercollar and to the peripheries of said armholes, thelower edge of said lining being fused to the adjacent lower edge of saidfront, and sleeves machine sewn to said armholes to form armhole seams.2. The jacket of claim 1 further including spaced machine blind stitchtacks joining each said facing and the adjacent front adjacent the lineof joinder of each said facing and lining.
 3. The jacket of claim 1further comprising a floating shoulder piece assembly, said shoulderpiece assembly comprising a generally triangular shoulder piece and asleeve cap machine sewn thereto to form a seam, said shoulder piece andsleeve cap being of the same fabric as the front and back and machineblind stitch tacks joining each said shoulder piece at its apices to asaid shoulder seam and to two spaced points at a said armhole seam, theseam joining said shoulder piece and sleeve cap being disposed towardsaid sleeve.
 4. The jacket of claim 1 further comprising a plurality ofmachine blind stitch tacks for keeping said collars from spreading, saidtacks being spacedly located beneath and adjacent said undercollar andpassing through said backs and fronts and into said facings andneckpiece, respectively.
 5. A completely machine sewn jacket ofstretchable knit goods imparting a sweater feel to the jacket, saidjacket comprising stretchable fronts, backs, collars, facings, liningsand sleeves all machine sewn to each other, and a floating shoulderpiece assembly free of confinement by said lining and other jacket partsand being secured to said jacket only at several spaced points, saidshoulder piece assembly comprising a generally triangular shoulder pieceand a sleeve cap machine sewn thereto along one side thereof to form aseam, the side of the shoulder piece to which the sleeve cap is sewnbeing blind stitch machine tacked at opposite ends to an armhole seamand the other point of said triangular shoulder piece being machineblind stitch tacked to a shoulder seam.
 6. A method of assembling aman''s jacket of stretchable fabric absent hand sewing to impart asweater-type feel thereto, the steps comprising, cutting fronts, backs,facings, an undercollar, a top collar and a neckpiece from a stretchableinterliner material, and cutting linings from a stretchable linermaterial, machine sewing the backs to form a center seam and machinesewing the fronts, each of which has an interliner fused thereto, to thefree sides of the backs to form side seams, machine sewing saidundercollar to said backs through a nonstretchable tapE, machine sewingsaid backs and said fronts through nonstretchable tapes to form shoulderseams and to define armholes, and machine sewing said undercollar tosaid fronts, all to form a shell assembly, machine sewing linings,facings, a neckpiece and a top collar to form a preassembly, machinesewing said preassembly to said shell assembly, and said linings to saidshoulder seams and side seams, fusing the lower edge of said lining tothe lower edges of said fronts, and machine sewing sleeves to saidarmholes to form armhole seams.
 7. The method of claim 6 furtherincluding the step of machine blind stitch tacking each said facing andthe adjacent front adjacent the line of joinder of said facing andlining to each other at a plurality of spaced points therealong.
 8. Themethod of claim 6 further comprising the steps of machine sewing ashoulder piece assembly comprising a generally triangular shoulder pieceand a sleeve cap, and blind stitch machine tacking each said shoulderpiece at its apices to said shoulder seam and to two spaced points atsaid armhole seam.
 9. The method of claim 6 comprising the further stepof machine blind stitch tacking said collars at a plurality of pointsspacedly located beneath and adjacent said undercollar and passingthrough said backs and fronts and into said facings and neckpiece tokeep said collars from spreading.
 10. The method of making a completelymachine sewn jacket of stretchable knit goods to impart a sweater-typefeel to the jacket, said jacket including machine joined stretchableknit fronts, backs, collars, facings, linings and sleeves, machinesewing a generally triangular shoulder piece and a sleeve cap, saidsleeve cap lying along one side of said shoulder piece, to form a seam,machine blind stitch tacking said shoulder piece to said jacket, theends of said seam being tacked to an armhole seam and the other point ofsaid triangular shoulder piece being tacked to a shoulder seam, saidshoulder piece assembly otherwise being unsecured to said jacket andbeing free from confinement by said lining.